My wife and I have been to Hawaii twice with our Scout benefits in the past few months. The most difficult was flying Hawaiian Airlines as it looks great the night before the flight and then all of a sudden there are 20+ HAL employees trying to go back and forth to the mainland. The best was the mid-week non-stop on United for the Hawaii flights. Once you purchase your Zed fare from the F9 Pass Bureau you can go online and list for your flight on the www.ifc.id90.com website...Username:F9emp, Password:422. You can also list on flights on American Airlines on this website.
Jeff Kirkendall Sandy VanDeHey - September 2011:
My family (3) flew to the Big Island at the beginning of Sept 2011. We flew through PHX in the AM and picked up Us Air to Kona. F9 gets into PHX a couple of hours before the Us Air takes off. Going to Hawaii we each had our own row, coming back we easily got on , but the plane was much more crowded that night. I purchased "all zed fares" at the service desk which made the cost a little more expensive, but then we only had to have 1 backup ticket. The all zed let's you fly on all airlines, but the difference in price was just $23. We stayed at the Outrigger. The room was basic, but the breakfast buffet, view, and location were great. There was great snorkeling right outside our hotel- sea turtles, octopus, needle nose fish and more. We kayaked, snorkeled, hiked, saw the sunset at Mona Loa and visited the volcano.
Sandy VanDeHey December 2011:
My daughter (too old to non rev any other way!) and I have been to Hawaii twice via Hawaiian Air, and island hoped with no problems - both times leaving around Dec 8th. Home via Maui to Vegas had plenty of seats! We called Hawaiian Air the day before to determine our best city connection to the Islands, and they were very, very helpful, urging us through the connecting city with the most seats!! Last year thru PHX, back thru SMF. This year thru SAN and back from Maui to LAS. In Kona we stayed at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel, recently remodeled after the title wave hit - right on the beach in the cove. Website: http://www.konabeachhotel.com/ . While on your flight, share a digi-player, watch a couple of movies - it will make the flight go a little faster!
We took a 14 day cruise from the Port of Los Angeles that stopped at the four major Hawaiian Islands: Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, and Kauai on Princess Cruises (Website: http://www.princess.com/learn/destinations/hawaii/cruises/hhi.jsp ). We saw Hawii in style and discovered ways to make the trip easy on the pocketbook, and still see all of the sights. We non-reved to LAX, but you could also drive 16 hours from Denver. The Port of Los Angeles has parking for $10.00 per day (Website: http://www.portoflosangeles.org/facilities/world_cruise_center.asp ), but we used Prime Time Shuttle to get us from LAX to the Port of Los Angeles (AKA: Los Angeles Harbor or San Pedro). We booked the shuttle ahead of time so that we were all set (Website: http://www.primetimeshuttle.com/locations/airportshuttle_Los_Angeles_Harbor.html ) when we arrived at LAX. If you have cruised before, you know that the accomodations, entertainment, and food are very cost effective. We went the cheap route and booked our cabin at $66.00 per day per person for an inside cabin. Here's four ways to save: 1) When in Hawaiian ports, use rental cars instead of taking the expensive cruise ship shore excursions Using Priceline.com's name-your-price service, we got cars as cheap as $15.00 per day. We were masters of our itinerary, saw all of the sites that we wanted to see, stopped for shopping, etc. The islands are easy to get around. 2) In Honolulu, use public transportation buses (Website: http://thebus.org/ ). If you're a senior, show your Medicare card and the fare is $1.00 each way. The No. 20 bus takes you to Pearl Harbor. Admission to the US Arizona National Park is free (Website: http://www.nps.gov/valr/index.htm ). To avoid long lines, spend $1.50 and make a reservation for a specific time at http://www.recreation.gov/ . While at Pearl Harbor, tour the USS Missouri, where the World War II surrender documents were signed (Website: http://www.ussmissouri.com/ ). Tickets are $24.00 per person, and the tour was worth it. 3) Take advantage of Princess Cruise Lines' onboard-credit programs for shareholder (Websites: http://www.cruisecompete.com/shareholderbenefits.php and http://www.rclinvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=103045&p=irol-shareholderbenefit ). Owning at least 100 shares entitles you to $250 worth of onboard credit for a 14 day cruise like ours. The amounts are lower for shorter cruises. These credits buy a lot of drinks, jewelry, and souvenirs. You have to apply for the credit before you sail ( www.princess.com ). Other cruise lines have similar policies. Enjoy Hawaii, we did!
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Oahu Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Oahu
Honolulu Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Honolulu
Waikiki Beach Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Honolulu/Waikiki
Pearl Harbor National Park Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/USS_Arizona_National_Memorial#Pearl_Harbor
Maui Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Maui
Big Island (Hawaii) Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Big_Island
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: http://wikitravel.org/en/Hawaii_Volcanoes_National_Park
Kauai Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Kauai
Jeff Kirkendall - September 2012:
My wife and I have been to Hawaii twice with our Scout benefits in the past few months. The most difficult was flying Hawaiian Airlines as it looks great the night before the flight and then all of a sudden there are 20+ HAL employees trying to go back and forth to the mainland. The best was the mid-week non-stop on United for the Hawaii flights. Once you purchase your Zed fare from the F9 Pass Bureau you can go online and list for your flight on the www.ifc.id90.com website...Username:F9emp, Password:422. You can also list on flights on American Airlines on this website.
Jeff Kirkendall
Sandy VanDeHey - September 2011:
My family (3) flew to the Big Island at the beginning of Sept 2011. We flew through PHX in the AM and picked up Us Air to Kona. F9 gets into PHX a couple of hours before the Us Air takes off. Going to Hawaii we each had our own row, coming back we easily got on , but the plane was much more crowded that night. I purchased "all zed fares" at the service desk which made the cost a little more expensive, but then we only had to have 1 backup ticket. The all zed let's you fly on all airlines, but the difference in price was just $23. We stayed at the Outrigger. The room was basic, but the breakfast buffet, view, and location were great. There was great snorkeling right outside our hotel- sea turtles, octopus, needle nose fish and more. We kayaked, snorkeled, hiked, saw the sunset at Mona Loa and visited the volcano.
Sandy VanDeHey
December 2011:
My daughter (too old to non rev any other way!) and I have been to Hawaii twice via Hawaiian Air, and island hoped with no problems - both times leaving around Dec 8th. Home via Maui to Vegas had plenty of seats! We called Hawaiian Air the day before to determine our best city connection to the Islands, and they were very, very helpful, urging us through the connecting city with the most seats!! Last year thru PHX, back thru SMF. This year thru SAN and back from Maui to LAS. In Kona we stayed at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel, recently remodeled after the title wave hit - right on the beach in the cove. Website: http://www.konabeachhotel.com/ . While on your flight, share a digi-player, watch a couple of movies - it will make the flight go a little faster!
*Download the "Hawaii Guide Me" app. to your phone! Here's the Website: http://www.hawaiiguideme.com/best-of-hawaii/ ). Not only does it have an easy navigation page, it has reviews, and a map, even some coupons! You can do a custom search by island!
If you want to see the volcano at night, take a rain jacket and a good flashlight (and a friend who is not a wimp!) You will need the flashlight for the hidden caves around the Big Island too! The green beach was a great hike (Websites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papakolea_Beach and
http://www.to-hawaii.com/big-island/beaches/papakoleagreensandbeach.php ), and gotta love the black sand beach (Websites:
http://www.to-hawaii.com/big-island/beaches/punaluublacksandbeach.php and http://www.letsgo-hawaii.com/punaluu-black-sand-beach/ )
and sea turtles there!
November 2011:
We took a 14 day cruise from the Port of Los Angeles that stopped at the four major Hawaiian Islands: Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, and Kauai on Princess Cruises (Website: http://www.princess.com/learn/destinations/hawaii/cruises/hhi.jsp ). We saw Hawii in style and discovered ways to make the trip easy on the pocketbook, and still see all of the sights. We non-reved to LAX, but you could also drive 16 hours from Denver. The Port of Los Angeles has parking for $10.00 per day (Website: http://www.portoflosangeles.org/facilities/world_cruise_center.asp ), but we used Prime Time Shuttle to get us from LAX to the Port of Los Angeles (AKA: Los Angeles Harbor or San Pedro). We booked the shuttle ahead of time so that we were all set (Website: http://www.primetimeshuttle.com/locations/airportshuttle_Los_Angeles_Harbor.html ) when we arrived at LAX. If you have cruised before, you know that the accomodations, entertainment, and food are very cost effective. We went the cheap route and booked our cabin at $66.00 per day per person for an inside cabin. Here's four ways to save: 1) When in Hawaiian ports, use rental cars instead of taking the expensive cruise ship shore excursions Using Priceline.com's name-your-price service, we got cars as cheap as $15.00 per day. We were masters of our itinerary, saw all of the sites that we wanted to see, stopped for shopping, etc. The islands are easy to get around. 2) In Honolulu, use public transportation buses (Website: http://thebus.org/ ). If you're a senior, show your Medicare card and the fare is $1.00 each way. The No. 20 bus takes you to Pearl Harbor. Admission to the US Arizona National Park is free (Website: http://www.nps.gov/valr/index.htm ). To avoid long lines, spend $1.50 and make a reservation for a specific time at http://www.recreation.gov/ . While at Pearl Harbor, tour the USS Missouri, where the World War II surrender documents were signed (Website: http://www.ussmissouri.com/ ). Tickets are $24.00 per person, and the tour was worth it. 3) Take advantage of Princess Cruise Lines' onboard-credit programs for shareholder (Websites: http://www.cruisecompete.com/shareholderbenefits.php and
http://www.rclinvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=103045&p=irol-shareholderbenefit ). Owning at least 100 shares entitles you to $250 worth of onboard credit for a 14 day cruise like ours. The amounts are lower for shorter cruises. These credits buy a lot of drinks, jewelry, and souvenirs. You have to apply for the credit before you sail ( www.princess.com ). Other cruise lines have similar policies. Enjoy Hawaii, we did!